Trust God and “Walk on Water”

(This is the second devo I wrote for the church project)

“‘Lord, if it’s You,’ Peter replied, ‘tell me to come to You on the water.’ ‘Come,’ He said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.’” (Matt. 14:28-29)

“Jump! I’ll catch you!” Stacey was standing on the edge of the kiddy pool, her floaties tightly wrapped around her pudgy arms, her toes gripping the tile that lined the pool’s border. There was her Daddy, wading in the shallow water, not 3 feet from her. He smiled up at her beckoning her to trust him, jump in, the water’s warm, the sun is bright; she’d have fun! But this was Stacy’s first time to go swimming, and she wasn’t so sure…what if Daddy didn’t catch her? Would the water hurt? What if her floaties didn’t work? She bit her lip, eyes wide, brows furrowed, she tried to figure out what to do next, wanting to be with Daddy, but scared that the water would get her first…

Like Stacey, we will have times in our lives when we are called by our Father to do something new, something out of our comfort zones, and something that will force us to trust Him. But these new things are not always exciting: “what if?” becomes the name of the game: “What if I fail? What if I’m rejected? What if I lose money? What if I get hurt?” We grapple with God, wanting to do what He says, but not sure if what He’s asking us to do is worth the risk.

It’s all a matter of trust. Do we trust Him enough to know that He will catch us? Do we believe He would never call us to something for our harm, but only for our ultimate good? Sadly, most of us don’t. Our “what ifs” win the day; we take off our floaties, run back to the picnic table, and wait until it’s time to go home, satisfied that we narrowly escaped a certain disaster.

While some “what ifs” might be legitimate concerns, in the end, they only keep us from moving forward, preventing us from doing the wonderful things God intended for us to do with Him; thus, we miss an incredible opportunity to join God in something spectacular.

Look at what happened to the disciples. In the passage above, Jesus was seen doing something new, exciting, miraculous– He was walking on water! All of the disciples had an opportunity to join Him in this new endeavor, but only one took the chance. As a result, only one walked on water, experiencing a miracle in the company of his Master.

How about you? Do you trust God enough to jump when He beckons you? If He called you to do the impossible, will you step out of the boat, or will you allow the “what ifs” to convince you otherwise? Those, who trust their Father, will swim with Him; those, who trust their Lord, will walk with Him on water.

Trusting God When Life Hurts Most

(I have been asked to write a couple of devotionals for our church; this is one of the devos I wrote on the subject of "Trust." Enjoy!)

“Lazarus was sick…so the sisters sent word to Jesus…On His arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been (dead) for four days. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet Him, but Mary stayed at home.” (Jn. 11:1, 3, 17, & 20)

They were Jesus’s close friends; Martha, Mary, Lazarus; they had all spent a lot of time together. Jesus loved going to their house, a place He could relax and enjoy their company as He rested from the grind of ministry. These were His friends, a family He loved; and yet, when they needed Him the most…He never came.

Mary was distraught. She had trusted Jesus; when she sent for Him, she thought surely He would come quickly and heal her brother, just as He healed everyone else; but instead, Jesus took His time while Lazarus’s illness took his life. “Didn’t He understand? Was my message not urgent enough? I trusted Him! I loved Him! How could He have let my brother DIE?!” Jesus did finally arrive, and Mary refused to see Him…

What do you do when the nightmare comes true? The eviction notice arrives; she was having an affair; the cancer spread; your daughter was in that wreck; your son calls you from prison? How can you trust a God, Who claims to love you, One, you’ve served faithfully, prayed to diligently, and believed in fervently, and then dares to let your life crumble around you?

We all experience times when life hits us with ruthless force, and the things we used to believe about God are shattered by our “real” reality. We find it difficult to pray, and it almost seems worthless to do the things we used to do, go to church, walk in love, tithe, after all what’s the point? What’s the point of doing all these things if they don’t protect you from life’s pain?

THIS is where trust begins. Trust is fashioned in the fires of heartache, perfected in the agony of affliction; it is birthed in the excruciating effort it takes to keep believing God when everything in you wants to quit. Trusting God surrenders to the process of pain in faith that God is still the same, and will be with us in the suffering.

Jesus wasn’t there to answer Mary’s prayer like she wanted Him to, but He was there to be with her in her pain. It is true for us today. The same God, Who brought you the man of your dreams, is the One, Who will also carry you through the divorce. The God, Who blessed you with the pregnancy, is the same One, Who will be with you as you miscarry. God may not prevent the pain or the loss, and He may not answer us the way we want Him to, but we can trust that, no matter what happens, He will be with us, loving us, even when life hurts most.

Before the Morning...

“God says to you THIS day: “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?”* The new day is coming! “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.”** God’s word will be fulfilled in YOUR LIFE!!!”

I sat there, listening to the CD of a past sermon from our church. There were hoots and hollers in the congregation from other saints, who were, likewise, receiving an encouraging word from the Lord; my voice was among them. You know how that can be – the preacher speaks on a topic, reads some passages – and then the Spirit downloads something to you personally, one that resonates with your spirit and speaks to your situation. This was no exception. The words were being read; a passage being spoken on the coming new day: the breakthrough is “just around the corner,” and the congregation was going crazy. I remember being apart of its jubilation: the Lord was speaking to me! Yes! I knew it was coming; my new day was just around the next bend! I could smell it, taste it; the breakthrough is mine! I receive it! Praise God! The sermon finished, I pressed eject on my CD player. I had heard the sermon before, and though at the time it was given, I was invigorated by the promise from God for the “new day” dawning…now, I winced. Shortly after the new day’s promise on that Sunday morning, my life had taken a turn into a long dark season of night…

It’s not that I was discouraged, or doubtful. I believed the word WAS real, that the promise of the new day WOULD come to pass…but now, I realized that, when the promise of the new day is made, darkness irrevocably follows. Why? Because, in God’s time table – the day begins in the evening, to separate from the previous day, and prepare for the new day:

“And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.” (Gen. 1:5)

In the Jewish calendar, a new day begins at the sunSET of the previous day! In other words, the next day’s start is in darkness, before the light emerges. But we never think about it that way. For us, the new day is equivalent with the light dawning; new days mean “sunRISE” to us…and this is also true – the sunrise is the fulfillment of the promise; the consummation of a new day. Dawn is the manifestation or birth of the promise, but it only comes AFTER the preparation and development cultivated during the dark night.

On God’s time table, every word, every promise, every creation begins in darkness before it is brought to the light. For Creation, the world was in darkness and a void, then, it burst into light. For the child, he is first fashioned in the secret darkness of the womb before he is birthed into light. For the flower, its seed must be planted deep into the darkness of the earth, before it sprouts into the light of the sun. Likewise, whatever God has promised you, whatever prophetic vision He has placed in your heart for your life, it must be fashioned and molded in the darkness of your soul and circumstances before it can spring forth into the light of your life.

So why does the Lord give us these promises of “new days” dawning, when really, we will be seeing darkness first? Because, to God, there is no power in the darkness!

“(Jesus) having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” (Col. 2:15).

"Death has been swallowed up in victory." (1 Cor. 15:54)

The darkness is only a miniscule detail that is necessary in order to produce the beauty and wonder of the light. For us, it is the light at the end of the tunnel that keeps us going; that helps us “hang on” to overcome and receive the reward at the end of the course. It is the assurance that God’s Word is true, and even though the darkness tarries, we can wait for the fulfillment of that Word, knowing that the light WILL dawn at the end of the long night.

“For the (promise) awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.” (Hab. 2:3)

Do not be disillusioned if you feel that your promise from God seems to have been a mistake. If your circumstances say “night” – rest assured, you are in the position of birthing a new day. The day is coming; it always dawns after the death of the previous day. Darkness IS the beginning of the day, and at the fullness of time, the dawn will be born in light.

You are my lamp, O LORD; the LORD turns my darkness into light.” (2 Sam. 22:29)




*(Isa. 43:19)
**(Isa. 60:1)